Leh 1-day itinerary

Begin with a gentle morning exploring Leh town to acclimatise at 3500m altitude. Walk slowly uphill to Leh Palace, a nine-storey former royal residence built in the 17th century that resembles a smaller Potala Palace. The crumbling structure offers panoramic views over Leh's old town, the Indus Valley floor, and the Stok Kangri massif (6153m) across the river. Continue along the ridge to Shanti Stupa, a gleaming white Buddhist peace pagoda built by Japanese monks in 1991. The stupa terrace provides the most photographed panorama in Ladakh — the Indus Valley, the Zanskar Range, and the brown-and-white landscape of high-altitude desert extending to every horizon.

Stroll through Leh's old town, a labyrinth of narrow mud-brick lanes below the palace where traditional Ladakhi houses with flat roofs and prayer flag poles sit beside small Buddhist temples (gompas) and Muslim mosques — Leh has been a crossroads of Buddhist and Islamic culture for centuries. Walk to the Main Bazaar, the central market street where shops sell Tibetan handicrafts, pashmina shawls, turquoise jewellery, dried apricots, and trekking supplies. The pace of life is slow and the air is thin — take frequent breaks at the chai shops and bakeries that line the bazaar.

Spend the evening resting at your guesthouse — acclimatisation is not optional at 3500m. Drink plenty of fluids (water, butter tea, or garlic soup, all believed to help with altitude adjustment), eat light meals, and avoid physical exertion. For dinner, try Ladakhi cuisine at a local restaurant — thukpa (hearty noodle soup), momos (steamed dumplings), skyu (Ladakhi pasta stew with root vegetables), and butter tea (po cha, salty tea churned with yak butter). The food is designed for high altitude — warming, calorie-dense, and easy to digest.